Why is CBS showing the Seattle Carolina game?

[Rupert Patrick]

CBS holds the rights to AFC games, and if the road team is an AFC team, they can also show that game. However, in the Greenville-Spartanburg market where I live, the CBS affiliate is showing the Seattle-Carolina game, and Indianapolis Pittsburgh is the late game. On the Fox affiliate, they played the Lions Falcons game from London at 9:30 AM, and there is no 1PM game but the 4PM game is Eagles vs. Cards. I don't understand why CBS is playing two NFC teams.

[JohnH19]

That's a good question, Rupert. The Minneapolis and Spokane CBS affiliates that we get here in Winnipeg are also carrying the game. Things that make you go hmmm...

The Rochester, NY Fox station has the Pats-Bears rout, Fox Spokane isn't showing an early game and TSN has the Vikes and Bucs.

[Shrevedude]

That's what I'm wondering too. Your guess is as good as mine.

[ChrisBabcock]

Something similar happened here in Buffalo a few weeks ago with a Bills/Patriots game being on Fox. The only answer I got was something to the effect of NBC might have flexed out a game from CBS earlier to CBS had the right to steal a game from Fox. So it was a 3 way swap of games? Really weird.

[timmyb]

This season, as part of the renewed contracts with CBS and Fox, allows for some games to be flexed from what would normally a CBS telecast to Fox and vice versa. The purpose of the flexing is to balance the telecast schedules between Fox and CBS (so as an example, Fox doesn't have 9 games and CBS just 4) and also to make sure one network isn't top heavy with appealing games while the other network has a lineup of dog games.

[Reaser]

This season, as part of the renewed contracts with CBS and Fox, allows for some games to be flexed from what would normally a CBS telecast to Fox and vice versa. The purpose of the flexing is to balance the telecast schedules between Fox and CBS (so as an example, Fox doesn't have 9 games and CBS just 4) and also to make sure one network isn't top heavy with appealing games while the other network has a lineup of dog games.

Yup, an example of the old rules no longer applying is Thanksgiving day games. Both games (all 3 including the night game) are all-NFC matchups. When in the past Detroit would have been hosting an AFC team this year.

[65 toss power trap]

Some of these cross-flexed games are planned, and some will flex during the season.

Related to the comments already made, it is really intended to move a good game to a wider distribution on the other network. Sometimes this is because it is isolated regionally due to the number of games on one network, or because a natural "national" game is already on that network.